The impact of family transition on the development of delinquency in adolescent boys : a 9-year longitudinal study

• Examined prospectively the impact of family transition on deviant development in a sample of 427 French-Canadian boys participating in a longitudinal study from kindergarten onwards. During the course of the study some boys experienced family transition. The boys were grouped by developmental period and number of marital transitions they experienced: divorced between ages 6-11; divorced between ages 12-15; remarried between ages 6-11; and remarried between ages 12-15. From ages 11-15 the author's assessed boys' delinquency and their family processes (parental supervision, punishment, and communication) annually. The results suggest that boys who experienced remarriage between ages 12-15 are at greater risk for delinquency. In particular, they showed evidence of comparatively more theft and fighting at earlier ages than their peers from families that had remained intact. At similar points in development, they perceived less expressive parent-child relationships. Finally, these boys also perceived less monitoring by their parents, both overall and at different points in adolescence.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Childhood Development

Divorce

Juvenile Delinquency

Parent Child Relations

Remarriage

Age Differences

Child Discipline

Human Males

Parent Child Communication

Psychology

Psykologi

Psykologi

Psychology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)